Do you want to be a HERO?

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of capital? It would probably be in the lines of businesses, organizations and governments, right? But, does the term psychological capital ring a bell? 

What is psychological capital?

Some people might seem like they always keep forging ahead even when there are many setbacks in their life. They probably have developed high levels of psychological capital and this has kept them going through everything they have faced in their lives.

Psychological capital or PsyCap is a combination of four psychological states that improve our overall performance and health. These psychological states are interdependent and interact together to contribute more than the sum of their parts.

The four main elements of psychological capital include:

1. Hope: Having the willpower combined with the ability to see a better future. It enables us to continue working toward our goals. When faced with obstacles while pursuing our goals, hope makes us capable of forging new or alternate paths towards plausible and achievable goals.

2. Efficacy: Efficacy involves believing in our capabilities to take on challenges and motivating ourselves while facing hurdles in life. Additionally, it also involves making relevant efforts to accomplish our goals.

3. Resilience: Resilience allows us to bounce back from setbacks and come back stronger. After facing adversity or distressing circumstances, our ability to cope is bolstered by having a resilient mindset. It also enables us to be emotionally stable, and mentally flexible, which can further influence our behavior.

4. Optimism: Optimism is the psychological state which allows us to attribute the positive events of our life to our skills, strength and abilities. It also means having a positive attitude towards the future, while still being understanding of the fact that life is full of adversities.

Together these psychological states form the acronym ‘HERO’. 

How did PsyCap originate?

The term was initiated by Fred Luthans and Youssef-Morgan as a developable resource in 2004 and had foundations in positive psychology and organizational behavior. Together, Luthans and Morgan defined PsyCap as a measurable psychological construct with the dimensions: Hope, Efficacy, Resilience, and Optimism to form the HERO model.

In the book Psychological Capital: Developing the Human Competitive Edge, Luthans focused on the intricate fabric of the HERO model.

Luthans placed heavy emphasis on certain theories which can be related to the four dimensions of PsyCap.

• For Hope, he relied on Synder’s Theory of Hope which conceptualized hopefulness as a reliable human strength with 3 components: Goal-directed thinking, pathway-directed thinking and agency-based thinking.

• Efficacy was based on Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory which detailed self-confidence and trust in one’s capabilities.

• As for resilience, he referenced Masten’s Resilience Theory which focuses on how we cope with adversity and recover from it.

• Seligman’s Learned Optimism Theory was the framework for optimism and it referred to having positive expectations and interpreting situations in a constructive manner to deal with them accordingly.

Why is PsyCap essential?

PsyCap enables us to embrace life changes, feel emotionally stable, live a fulfilling life, perform better at work, recover from distress and also cope with the various challenges of life.

At the workplace, having higher grades of PsyCap can:

• Increase our productivity levels.
• Decrease burnout and stress levels.
• Foster creativity and enhance problem-solving abilities.
• Improve our ability to adapt to changes.
• Boost job performance leading to higher job satisfaction.

Psycap is also connected with positive outcomes in our personal lives. 

Hope

Hope gives a sense of purpose and meaning to our lives, which can boost happiness levels. While facing challenges, our hopeful mindset can encourage us to persist nevertheless. Hope can also help us to develop pathways towards achieving our personal goals. For example, if you want to develop good habits like exercising daily, hoping to achieve a stronger body keeps you motivated even when the exercises become progressively advanced.

Resilience

Resilience can unveil our inner strength and help us adapt to the uncertain elements of life. It provides us with the ability to recover from loss, grief, setbacks, distressing events and other life-altering circumstances. With resilience, we are also more likely to handle disappointments, guilt and other distressing emotions in a productive manner. For example, when faced with personal loss, resilience reminds us that learning from these experiences and forging ahead can help us overcome it.

Optimism

Optimism reminds us to believe that our circumstances will get better and to perceive challenges as temporary setbacks to success. Being optimistic can also improve the personal relationships we have with other people. By focusing on positive outcomes, we are less likely to be extremely stressed and anxious. For instance, while applying for a job, maintaining optimism can reduce the anxiety and stress that we experience during job interviews. 

Efficacy

Efficacy empowers us to believe in ourselves and our abilities. As a result, we are more likely to take initiatives and make informed decisions. Whether it is our personal, academic or professional life, efficacy makes it possible to trust in ourselves. This can reduce self-doubts, learned helplessness and stress while encountering new problems or situations. Let’s assume you want to learn a new language. When you believe in your ability to learn new things, you are more likely to engage yourself in learning the language. 

What differentiates PsyCap from other types of capital? 

The uniqueness of PsyCap lies in its plasticity, making it a resource that can be developed and fortified over time. It is also a multidimensional construct with 4 major components that combine to form an integrated model.

• PsyCap differs from Social Capital by focusing on the relationship we have with ourselves and our internal responses to adversity. PsyCap refers to our innate psychological resources. On the other hand, social capital focuses on the various social connections we have in our lives and relies on those external relationships. A person with strong professional networks is more likely to be informed about career growth or opportunities in their field. Conversely, an individual with self-confidence and the ability to adapt is more likely to cope with career changes, layoffs or unemployment in a healthy manner.

• Human Capital concentrates on our competence with regards to skills, educational experience, work experience, knowledge, training, etc. PsyCap focuses more on emotional strength, adaptability, self-confidence, motivation and positive attitude. PsyCap can be developed progressively while human capital tends to remain the same after learning or acquirement. For instance, a person with an optimistic mindset will be ready to learn new information and use it relevantly. On the other hand, a person who has received training for a particular technology will not be learning anything new.

• Financial capital involves tangible monetary and financial assets while PsyCap refers to intangible personal and psychological assets. Financial capital can enable us to invest in stocks but it is PsyCap that ensures that we recover from sudden financial strains or losses.

How to become a HERO?

To become a HERO, we need to cultivate the four elements of PsyCap: Hope, Efficacy, Resilience and Optimism. 

1. HOPE

To  cultivate hope in our lives, we need to focus on setting relevant and achievable goals. After setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) goals, we can start identifying multiple pathways to achieve those goals. When any of the paths are obstructed by challenges, we can either redirect or eliminate those obstacles standing on the path to success. Reminding ourselves to be flexible can support us to reconstruct our perception of failure, obstructions and distress faced on the path towards our goals. Don’t forget to celebrate the smaller joys and milestones along your path to success, to keep you motivated to continue. 

2. EFFICACY

When you have a task or situation, remember to stay confident in your abilities to pull through. To ensure that your confidence doesn’t wane, you can start with smaller tasks or micro-challenges. After confidently finishing these, you can progress to the more challenging tasks. While facing uncertainty or doubts on your path, introducing self-affirming statements can go a long way. The way you talk to yourself can majorly affect how you perceive situations and can directly affect your performance in various settings. For example, your self-talk can include statements such as “I am more than capable of handling this situation. I can perform to the best of my abilities. If I am unaware, I will learn and grow from my experiences.” Also surrounding yourself with people who hold a positive outlook in life can boost your sense of confidence. Seeking support can remind you that you are not alone when you experience any distress.

3. RESILIENCE

Life is a mixed bag of setbacks, success, failures, loss, uncertainties, joys and satisfaction. Coping with these varied experiences can be challenging but we are capable of bouncing back from the most distressing situations when we have grit, adaptability and mental flexibility. Failures are an importance experience to learn, grow and develop ourselves. To cope with the setbacks of life, you can practice kindness, self-compassion and mindfulness instead of focusing on self-blame or criticism. For instance, being mindful of how you perceive a mistake you made at your work, will allow you to not view it as a permanent defeat and instead apply the lessons you learn from this experience when faced with a different threat.

4. OPTIMISM

Having pessimistic or negative expectations can be draining and disappointing to you and the people in our life. Channeling your energy towards solving the problems in your life, instead of dwelling on the repercussions can change your entire lifestyle. Balancing your expectations, challenging negative outlooks and regularly reflecting on your thoughts, emotions and behavior can bring a refreshing change to how your perceive stressful or difficult conditions. As an example, visualize the potential of solving a particular situation and then ask how you would actively and positively influence the situation. 

Conclusion

To become a HERO, Psychological Capital (PsyCap) empowers us to navigate life challenges, achieve our goals, enhance our productivity, maintain our confidence and stay motivated. PsyCap is an expandable and life-sustaining psychological asset that can help us to actively build hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism thus reinforcing happiness, well-being and life satisfaction. PsyCap can have a fundamental and constructive impact on our thoughts, feelings and behavior with respect to the diverse intricacies of life, in personal, academic and professional settings.